Carnegie Theatre, Workington - review by Helen Burns

The weather was dirty as Rona and I travelled across the Lake District. Workington had a beige coloured sea and wind turbines, so not the last word in coastal scenery. The town seemed run-down and dejected with frontier town isolation, but the locals that we met were very friendly and in total contrast to Morecambe the previous night – I know which I’d rather have. Our hotel was round the corner from the Carnegie, and the lack of hot water made for an invigorating pre-gig shower (but hey! The hotel website never mentioned hot water as one of the facilities on offer).

The Carnegie is a small theatre with a proscenium arch which had once been a grand little place, and as with all seated venues – particularly theatre style ones – Glenn had to work hard to get the audience to relax. But they did, and as with Morecambe the place was full. They would have had him back for more and more, but there was just the one encore again.

Rona had drawn up a setlist - more of a wish list really - and he duly played all of them except the two I’d added (Maidstone and By Your Side)! These included Melody Motel, Walk Away, Always on my Mind and The Day I Get Home. Other high points were Genitalia of a Fool – the Workington audience appreciated the joke and Glenn appreciated their appreciation by almost getting the giggles as he played it. He took the 12 string unplugged onto the staircase leading up to the balcony and played Labelled with Love to everyone’s delight (except those standing directly underneath him).

On the downside, he had continuous problems with the sound quality and after making repeated polite requests for various changes to be made, he eventually had to call a brief interval to go and help sort it out himself. It did improve after that but a lot of his early momentum had been lost. I think the audience enjoyed it far more than Glenn did, to be honest.

We had the pleasure to meet Glenn’s lovely friends Craig, Helen and Linda and so a good time was had by all in the bar afterwards. Just don’t ask Craig to show you his surgery scars. Local covers band The Skoal Bandits were playing in there, and for their encore they asked if there was anyone from Squeeze in the audience. Glenn duly got up on stage with them and took the microphone for Up the Junction, followed by Please Please Me to an ecstatic reception to the crowd on the dance floor. I think he enjoyed that more than the gig!